JIMMY Cowan insists Gloucester must starve Exeter Chiefs of possession to triumph at Sandy Park today.
The Devon outfit steamrolled the Cherry and Whites in October to claim a 29-12 victory at Kingsholm.
Cowan admits the defeat is still difficult to stomach but he is confident Nigel Davies' men have improved beyond resemblance and can continue to climb the Aviva Premiership table.
He said: "You go back to when they played us here, that still leaves a bad taste in the mouth and there's a lot to play for in terms of the league table.
"There's just two points between us and with the new European competitions, it looks like seventh will get a play-off so we're well aware of what's ahead.
"The way we fronted up in that game was very disappointing, we just couldn't adapt to their speed of recycle and they caught us on the back foot. But we've learnt an awful lot from there and over the last two months we have been a reasonable side with one or two hiccups.
"Exeter have played some good rugby, they won the LV=Cup and they play as a 23, all knowing their roles within their structures.
"But it's one we're looking forward to and we're confident we can do the job.
"The biggest thing is to hold on to the ball and not let them have it, that's the best form of defence.
"If we hold the ball for long periods it won't allow them to play and will frustrate them."
Gloucester ran in five tries during their last outing at Sandy Park but fell to a one-point defeat following a last-minute Gareth Steenson penalty.
Cowan expects another thriller but he is well aware the Cherry and Whites must tighten their leaky defence with last week's bonus-point victory over Newcastle Falcons the perfect warning.
Having wrapped up the bonus-point and secured a 37-7 lead, Gloucester suffered a meltdown in the final quarter to allow the Falcons to swoop for 26-points in 18 minutes.
Cowan said: "It felt like a loss after that last 15. It hurt because we were waiting for a performance like that and in that first 65 we played some beautiful stuff, put a lot of points on the board and all of a sudden we switched off.
"It just shows if you are not fully focused for the entire match it results in tries.
"There was a lot of mistakes in the structure and all 15 guys were accountable so the key is making sure we play for the full 80.
"We have to defend a lot better than we did down there last year and the last 15 last week, we want a strong performance.
"We have to attack with the same attitude but defend well for 80 minutes, if we do that it should be a good result.
"They're a good side to play against because both of us are willing to play rugby so hopefully it will be a good spectacle and we will come out on the right side of the result."
